The Timmelsjoch Experience

The Timmelsjoch is the deepest, non-glaciated indentation in the main Alpine ridge between the Reschen Pass and the Brenner Pass.

A road, once a mule track, links the Passeiertal valley and the Ötztal valley. Over thousands of years, unique similarities between the two valleys evolved, triumphing over the natural boundary created by the mountains.

Since 2010 architectural sculptures located at several stopping places along the road, enlighten travellers about the natural surroundings, the history, the culture, the communities and the economy of the region.

All together there are 5 sculptures to be explored, two on the Austrian side called walkway and smuggler and two on the Italian side of the road named telescope and garnets. On the highest point of the pass one can find the pass museum. The concrete structure on the North Tyrolean side juts out like an erratic boulder into the South Tyrolean side, underlining the cross-border nature of the Timmelsjoch Experience. The "Ice Cave” inside the museum pays tribute to the pioneers of the High Alpine Road and their remarkable accomplishment.

Timmelsjoch, high alpine road

The Timmelsjoch has been an important Alpine passage for thousands of years. The idea of making this high alpine road a museum resulted in five architectural sculptures by Werner Tscholl, which thematise the interesting history. The structural challenges were correspondingly interesting for us. Polygonal, pointed glass volumes are three-dimensional information bodies in the Timmel Museum. A copper smuggler's route embedded in the ground recalls the foolhardy undertakings of the Krax bearers and a red backlit garnet made of point-fixed glass is enthroned above a 200-metre-high rock ledge. However, the special challenge of these architectural pearls remained the same as it has been for millennia. The confrontation with the unpredictable weather, the early snowfall and the late melt.